الملخص الإنجليزي
The current study aims to explore the role of Information Technology (IT) in the development of Basic School Administration in Dhakhiliya Region in the Sultanate of Oman. In order to accomplish this, the researcher used a questionnaire consisting of 51 items distributed into four areas including, Planning and Decision Making, Organization and Coordination, Evaluation and Supervision, and monitoring.
The study population consisted of 651 School Headmasters, Assistant School Headmasters, School Affairs Coordinators and Teachers of Learning Resources and Information Technology. A random sample of 200 people representing all these jobs was drawn to complete the questionnaire.
The results shows that IT plays a vital role in the development of Basic School Administration in Dhakhiliya Region in the Sultanate of Oman. This was clear from the overall mean score of the sample responses to all items in the questionnaire, which was 3.72.
Section wise, Monitoring was ranked first amongst the four areas of the study with a mean score of 4.04, followed by Organization and Coordination (3.83), and Planning and Decision Making (3.65). The lowest rating was for Evaluation and Supervision with a mean score of 3.40. This indicates that IT plays an important role in all aspects of school administration with slightly varying degrees between the four areas.
The study revealed no significant statistical differences in the responses attributed to educational qualification of the sample and their work experience in all studied areas. However, there was a significant difference in responses in the area of Monitoring in favor of school headmasters and their assistants.
To harness the features and benefits of IT and its role in school administration the research recommends that the number of computers in schools and teachers' rooms to be increased and there must be a computer designated for each administrator. The researcher also recommends that Email has to be fully utilized as a means for communication between supervisors and school administrators and between schools and the portents of the students, as well as the use of the Local Area Network. Moreover, the researcher suggests that each school should have its own website and policies and regulations need to be available in schools to govern the use of IT in schools.
